What do you mean 'prone to breaking'?   Have you broken several?   Seen a
bunch of broken ones?

My vans are each well over 200,000 miles, one of them's been to Alaska 6
times, and the shifter's are intact. Go easy on the projecting.

On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 9:06 AM, Allan Streib <streib@cs.indiana.edu> wrote:

> Mike,
>
> I did not remember that -- here I thought I was being pretty clever!
> Perhaps your suggestion was subliminally effective.
>
> Actually it's a pretty obvious "patch up" solution if you think about it
> for a few minutes.
>
> I'll get a stronger bolt, thread that in and then weld it WITH the bolt
> in place.
>
> Anyone know why these are prone to breaking?  Is it just metal fatigue,
> or were they designed to snap off for safety in an accident?
>
> Allan
> --
> 1991 Vanagon GL
>
> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:52:16 -0400, "Mike" <mbucchino@charter.net> said:
> > Hi Allan,
> >   I'm the guy that originally suggested the tapping and threading as a
> > good fix; I'm glad you were able to use it to get you home!
> > A threaded rod is about Grade 5, it's not strong enough to last in any
> > automotive application.  You need to use a Grade 8 (or higher) bolt with
> > threaded area that's long enough to do the job.  Just buy an
> > automotive-grade bolt of the same thread that you've already tapped it
> > for, cutting off the head and unthreaded portion.  You could also have
> it
> > 'properly' welded and ground flush again, after threading it back
> > together for a permanent repair.  Or, you might just be able to buy a
> complete
> > shifter from a parts yard or a member of this list.
> >
> > HTH,
> > Mike B.
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
Crescent Beach, BC
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27